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The European Strategic Forum of Research Infrastructures (ESFRI) has announced the approval of 11 new Research Infrastructures that will be included in the ESFRI 2021 roadmap. The approval has been decided after analyzing the results of the evaluation of the 18 proposals presented by the ESFRI Executive Committee.

The 11 approved infrastructures to be included in the Roadmap represent an investment of €4.1 billion in excellent science, contributing to address European challenges. These are:

  • EBRAINS – European Brain ReseArch INfrastructureS, a distributed digital infrastructure at the interface of neuroscience, computing and technology, offering scientists and developers advanced tools and services for brain research.
  • EIRENE RI – Research Infrastructure for EnvIRonmental Exposure assessment in Europe, the first EU infrastructure on human exposome (environmental determinants of health).
  • ET – Einstein Telescope, the first and most advanced third-generation gravitational-wave observatory, with unprecedented sensitivity that will put Europe at the forefront of the Gravitation Waves research.
  • EuPRAXIA – European Plasma Research Accelerator with Excellence in Applications, a distributed, compact and innovative accelerator facility based on plasma technology, set to construct an electron-beam-driven plasma accelerator in the metropolitan area of Rome, followed by a laser-driven plasma accelerator in European territory.
  • GGP – The Generations and Gender Programme, aiming to provide high quality and cross-nationally comparable longitudinal data to answer pressing scientific and societal challenges on population and family dynamics.
  • GUIDE – Growing Up in Digital Europe-EuroCohort, Europe’s first comparative birth cohort survey, aiming to support the development of social policies for the enhancement of the wellbeing of children, young people and their families across Europe.
  • MARINERG-i – Offshore Renewable Energy Research Infrastructure, setting out to become the leading internationally Distributed Research Infrastructure in the Offshore Renewable Energy (ORE) sector, with a network of test facilities spread across Europe.
  • OPERAS – Open Access in the European Research Area through Scholarly Communication, the distributed RI to enable Open Science and upgrade scholarly communication practices in the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) in line with the European Open Science Cloud.
  • RESILIENCE – Religious Studies Infrastructure: Tools, Innovation, Experts, Connections and Centers, a unique, interdisciplinary scientific RI for all Religious Studies, building a high-performance platform, supplying tools and access to physical and digital data to scholars from all scientific disciplines.
  • SLICES – Scientific Large-scale Infrastructure for Computing/Communication Experimental Studies ambitions to become an impactful RI in Digital Sciences, including concerns regarding energy consumption and the implementation of the Green Deal.
  • SoBigData++ RI – European Integrated Infrastructure for Social Mining and Big Data Analytics, a resource for sharing datasets, methods, research skills and computational resources for supporting the comprehension of social phenomena through the lens of Big Data.

The approval of these new 11 research infrastructures hopes to strengthen the Roadmap by including new strategic projects and corresponds to a new level of ambition to develop unique, complex facilities for frontier science, supported by a renewed momentum for investments in RIs. Check out ESFRI website for more information.

Jana Kolar is elected as next ESFRI Chair
ESFRI has also announced the election of Jana Kolar as the Forum’s next chair, beginning in June 2022 and for two years. Jana Kolar is executive director of CERIC-ERIC and has a broad range of expertise, ranging from policy development and implementation, research and innovation, to entrepreneurship.

More information on Dr. Kolar election here.